honky-tonk
/ˈhɒŋkɪtɒŋk
/noun informal
1North American A cheap or disreputable bar, club, or dance hall: a neighbourhood of honky-tonks, ethnic restaurants, and decaying apartment buildings...
- Here, you can get a taste of Memphis nightlife, where the blues continues to play in classic clubs and honky-tonks.
- As someone who has sometimes wondered about her own capacity to drink herself to death, I was also intrigued by the shots of men and women inside honky-tonks and other bars, sometimes at after-show functions.
- To soak up a little of the famous Nashville atmosphere, head for the honky-tonks in Downtown, a row of rough-and-ready bars all playing covers of your favourite country songs.
1.1 [as modifier] Squalid and disreputable: a honky-tonk beach resort...
- I'd hope to see the site redeveloped in a tasteful way and not in a honky-tonk fashion.
- The town is but a decayed, honky-tonk version of the company town, with everything and everybody in it owned by Mr. Potter, the rapacious banker (and the town itself is, of course, Pottersville).
2 [mass noun, often as modifier] Ragtime piano music: honky-tonk piano...
- There is music for everyone in this city - traditional jazz, honky-tonk piano, Cajun, zydeco, rhythm and blues, gospel, rock, and country.
- But when the foursome kept playing ragtime and honky-tonk music into the early hours the council decided to pull the plug.
- The pianist had grand piano, harmonium, honky-tonk piano and celeste, and the percussionist had a range of tuned and untuned percussion.
Origin
Late 19th century: of unknown origin.